Posts Tagged ‘censorship’

We must refuse to be silenced by the PC mob

Posted: July 30, 2020 by Jon Fournier in Uncategorized
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The state of free speech has never been as grave as it is now thanks to the left side of the political specteum.  I’m not saying that the political right has a perfect record when it comes to censorship, far from it.  It is just that censorship from progressives has become so widespread and so insidious.  This censorship comes in so many different forms such as all of this politically correct nonsense that has been going on for decades.  College campuses were once bastions of free speech, now they are black holes of censorship, especially when it comes to the ideas of the political right.  Censorship of conservatives on social media has reached epidemic proportions.

Those that are carrying out the censorship are not content with preventing those they disagree with from speaking, they are now attempting to destroy the livelihood of those they disagree with.  This has lead to the cancel culture which is so prevalent right now.

Verbal intimidation and even physical intimidation is now becoming a common component of the censorship.  This has led to an ever increasing number individuals censoring themselves.  This Cato national survey on the subject is very depressing.

A new Cato national survey finds that self‐​censorship is on the rise in the United States. Nearly two-thirds—62%—of Americans say the political climate these days prevents them from saying things they believe because others might find them offensive. 

The survey is indirect proof that those on the far left are most often guilty of censorship and intimidation.

Strong liberals stand out, however, as the only political group who feel they can express themselves. Nearly 6 in 10 (58%) of staunch liberals feel they can say what they believe. However, centrist liberals feel differently. A slim majority (52%) of liberals feel they have to self‐​censor, as do 64% of moderates, and 77% of conservatives. This demonstrates that political expression is an issue that divides the Democratic coalition between centrist Democrats and their left flank.

The survey is also proof that those of us on the right are also guilty of this sin and that we should strive to do better.

The survey found that many Americans think a person’s private political donations should impact their employment. Nearly a quarter (22%) of Americans would support firing a business executive who personally donates to Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden’s campaign. Even more, 31% support firing a business executive who donates to Donald Trump’s re‐​election campaign.

Support rises among political subgroups. Support increases to 50% of strong liberals who support firing executives who personally donate to Trump. And more than a third (36%) of strong conservatives support firing an executive for donating to Biden’s presidential campaign.

Thanks to the indoctrination that has been taking place on college campuses for decades, and has now spread to high schools and grade schools, young individuals are more likely to not value free speech.

Young Americans are also more likely than older Americans to support punishing people at work for personal donations to Trump. Forty‐​four percent (44%) of Americans under 30 support firing executives if they donate to Trump. This share declines to 22% among those over 55 years old.

This Breitbart article Stephen Miller: ‘Cancel Culture’ Seeks to Silence Majority offers proof that the Trump administration takes this issue seriously.

It is an effort at making people so afraid to speak their minds that a minority of radicals can effectively intimidate a majority of common-sense Americans, and that’s often how totalitarianism functions. If you can scare people at saying things they know to be true, and then you can even deprive them of the language to express themselves — not illegal aliens, but undocumented Americans, right? Not rioters and anarchists peaceful protesters …

When you take away people’s language, and then you punish them severely and excoriate them for saying things that we all know to be true, it’s possible for a minority of people to effectively bully the majority into acquiescence. That must be fought against above virtually any other objective we have right now.

The only way to win back our freedom to speak our minds whenever we want to is if we  refuse to be silenced.  We must speak out forcefully against politically correctness and this cancel culture, even from our side.

Facebook moderators lose all sense of humor

Posted: March 28, 2020 by ng36b in Uncategorized
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My firewood stand apparently doesn’t meet Facebook guidance

When the builders built my house, they took out a lot of tall trees in the front yard so that wind storms wouldn’t drop really big trees onto my new house. Rather than pay to take the trees away, I had them leave the trees and I chopped them into firewood. Since I had so much firewood, I built a little stand to sell it by the main road. It’s an honor system, and so far only one jerk has stolen a bundle.

To advertise, I’d post a funny ad on Facebook Marketplace. In one case, it was about how politically-neutral the firewood is. In another, it discussed how my firewood was totally vegan and free from animal-testing. Simple, but humorous.

But recently, not good enough for Facebook moderators. COVID-19 has taken many things from people, and apparently it has taken the sense of any humor from Facebook. I posted about COVID-19 free firewood, and the ad ran for a while, getting good laughs from people otherwise stuck at home. Two days ago, Facebook shut it down, saying I wasn’t advertising something for sale. I protested, saying that I indeed did sell firewood, hence the picture. No dice, the moderators have removed my ad. Here’s what I wrote, judge for yourself:

So life is collapsing all around you due to Corona Virus. Your favorite sports team is canceled. Toilet paper is being rationed. Your local Karen is trying to make hand sanitizer from essential oils. Everyone has gone mad with COVID-19 fear. In these trying times, you need some security.
You need…firewood.
Yes, firewood. Think of its magical properties. Instead of huddling in your house worried about what paper remains to wipe yourself with, you can light a fire in the fire stand you bought from Home Depot, but never found time to use. Those flames licking into the sky are mesmerizing to watch and take your mind off of the craziness surrounding a virus with a less than 5% chance to kill you.
Even better, the fire from firewood burns viruses. If you left COVID-19 on a piece of my firewood and set it on fire, the virus would die. Firewood has a better track record than Karen’s essential oils and anti-vax children at cutting down on viruses.
Plus, you are guaranteed that my firewood has never traveled to China, Iran, South Korea, or any other CDC-listed country. It’s also never been to a wet market!
If you navigate to ——, right outside the —— complex, you’ll find the firewood stand. Unlike any large store that gouges you for firewood, my stand only asks for a twenty dollar bill for a full wheelbarrow of anti-viral, morale-improving firewood. Even better, its always available, since you don’t need to knock on my door (please don’t, I’m practicing social distancing). If you wake up in horror at your impending doom at midnight and need the reassurance that only a stack of firewood can give you, you’re in luck, because you can pay for and pickup the firewood at any hour, thanks to the light I installed.
Best part: I’m using the money to build a nice playground for my kids, so that while they aren’t at school they can entertain themselves without driving my wife crazy.
So swing by today, grab a stack of firewood, and face the impending Coronapocalypse with firey gusto!
Please share this post! People need a good laugh with the craziness. And it helps me sell wood. #firewood #COVID19 #coronapocalypse

Facebook’s response:

Request denied peasant!

When we talk about free speech, censorship and violating ill-defined rules, it becomes a big deal to the small people of the world. If I needed that firewood money to live on, Facebook might be crushing my ability to make a living. What about a restaurant that hires people? Can they not use humor, or will that disgust moderators?

And the word “appeal” is misleading. It implies I had some process, when in reality I clicked a button, wrote a few sentences saying that I indeed sold firewood, then off to the ether with my request, which was promptly denied. I never met my moderator, never talked to him or her on the phone, or even chatted. I highly doubt anyone complained, given the popularity of the post. And its not offensive by any stretch of the imagination.

If someone is friends with Mr. Zuckerberg, maybe you can ask him to restore my firewood post? Otherwise, I might have to use Craigslist again.

This post represents the views of the author and not those of the Department of Defense, Department of the Navy, or any other government agency.

Morning Joe: “Eric Fuller? Fuller? Is he the guy who sells brushes?”

Posted: January 17, 2011 by datechguy in internet/free speech, media
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As you might recall Morning Joe went so over the top at the start of Friday’s show than I turned it off and watched the stooges all morning.

When the Eric Fuller statement came out and the left jumped all over it I was sure he would be the lead story on Monday, that was until he decided to publicly threaten a tea party person during the taping of ABC’s town hall on the Tuscon shootings.

Now I’m not a news director but I’d think that the irony of a shooting victim of Jared Zeitgeist Longhner threatening a tea party member, being arrested and involuntarily committed might actually be a story of interest that might bring discussion.

It would be interesting to see how they deal with this story, wouldn’t it? They have dealt with it all right. They’ve dealt it right out of the deck.

I have not seen a single mention of the event, not even a one liner in the base news segment. I’ve been watching since 6:04 and not a peep. Not a word.

Does anyone actually believe that if the roles had been reversed and the tea party person had been arrested it would have been the top story? How can these people actually justify this omission and is there anyone other than naive old me who expected better of them, that is actually surprised?

Let’s not pretend that the MSM is populated by “journalists” The MSM’s making Eric Fuller an unperson proves that it is now only populated by “journolist“.

Update: Nope not a word although I missed the “what have we learned today” segment but an inclusion there would be pretty lame. I’ve learned that MSNBC would rather protect their niche market than report news. I’ve also learned that Joe Scarborough was damn lucky not to be there to get a part of the blame today. Finally i’ve learned that an Instalanche is a great way to start the day. If you are a Glenn Reynolds fan who missed him on my show Saturday Night you can listen to it here. If you are one of those national advertisers that Glenn said is missing out on the 50,000 watts of my radio show, the ad rates are here.

Update 2: 24 hours later Way too early with Willie Geist discovers Eric Fuller reporting his apology. Will that rehabilitate him enough to make him the poster boy for the “blame the tea party” left? We will see.

Update 3: At least one reader was unclear on who Fuller was. This link explains it.

I wonder how many copies of Money for Nothing were sold off iTunes yesterday?

Posted: January 14, 2011 by datechguy in culture
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I seem to recall a time when people who were considered “liberal” absolutely rushed to buy banned books and music to support artists repressed by uptight adults who didn’t get it.

Who ever thought that would be Canada:

The Dire Straits song “Money for Nothing” was ruled by the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council to be “extremely offensive” and thus inappropriate for airing because it uses an anti-gay slur

No word on if the Canadians have banned Mel Brooks Blazing Saddles for this scene

I remember this video well for several reasons: The computer animation was not common in videos of the time, the song itself is pretty good and having known a lot of blue-collar guys they EXACTLY thought that about rock stars figuring they got rich the easy way.

Most bands will tell you that with rare exceptions it takes a lot of practice and years of work in cheap clubs to get to the point where you might have one hit, or one video. It’s not the type of heavy lifting that a laborer does but it is work (the easiest job is one somebody else is doing). There are rewards if you hit it big but most bands don’t.

Exit question is this: Has the Canadian Broadcast Standards council banned all rap music or comedy routines that includes a word that rhymes with “trigger”? If not why?

Anyway a count of the number of downloads of Money for Nothing yesterday would be quite interesting.

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